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It was good and I made money.

it was colder than you know what. Setting up in the low forties while handling cold metal parts sucks.

Naples Art League runs this annual show on the first weekend after New Years.

Setup is early Saturday morn with 300 artists jockeying for Position, it sucks too.

But that is what you tolerate in order to make mucho moola here.

They charge $450 for the booth fee and you have to park your van miles away and take a shuttle back.

January in Naples is never cheap. Hotels are $150 plus per nite, drinks are high($15 for a Makers Mark Manhatten, on the rocks, at Chops).

The artists who make serious money at this show are the ones selling high end items.

People who rely on quantity sales at low price points do not do well here. There are not enough customers within the surging crowds to do that. On the average, you are lucky if you get one out of forty to come in your booth.  They are too busy petting their prize dogs.

These are mostly well-coiffed midwesterners.  They look great, but most of them do not give a serious rats ass about art.

The ones who buy go for expensive pieces of jewelry, think $2K and up.  They love big gaudy metal wall pieces.  They love big Florida-Drek photography, they never met an alligator or palm tree they would not buy. Big, in ceramics or anything sells here.

If you are relying on $30-$75 sales here, forget about it, not enough customers .Also the show is about six long city blocks in length with booths setup in quads. Everybody gets an open side with about two feet of rear storage.

That said, the layout does not encourage bebacks.  You get one shot, make it memorable.

Last year inclement weather sunk the show.  I barely sold $1200, this year I did seven times booth fee. Not bad, but not great.

That was the general consensus I got when I talked to fellow artists.

I think this could be a great year for big sales. But I am a little worried about our middle class patrons, they seem stuck in a cycle going nowhere forward.

Well, I will keep you all posted on my goings and on this year. I am almost 73 years old and in my 43rd year of doing shows. I never lost my love for them, I still get excited about them.  I keep coming up with new work and love selling the hell out of them.

Later gators, Bonita Springs is calling me this weekend.

I hate this part of the process...deciding on art shows so many months in advance. So, I've done Jekyll Island Shrimp and Grits for a couple of years. Average show, but I love the location. Last year was hurricane, so they refunded booth fee, but notice this year their verbage clearly states...NO REFUNDS FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER OR ACTS OF GOD. It's scaring me off! Only other possibilities in September for me are Delray Beach or Punta Gorda,both many more miles, and both Howard Alan. Now, I know he does refund or replace booth fees for things out of an artist's control, so I'm tempted, especially with the weather weirdness here lately.

Have any other artists done the Delray, or Punta Gorda shows?

New to the business? Tired of getting rejected? What images should I use for my application? What are the jurors looking for?

2 chances to find the answers: 

1. January 20, Saint Louis, MO

ZAPP and the Saint Louis Art Fair are offering artists an opportunity to have their images critiqued through a Mock Jury workshop. If you are interested in this option (your work part of the critique) the deadline to submit was January 2. However this workshop is open to anyone that would like to attend and learn. 

What we'll cover: 

•  Learn how to make your application more competitive.
•  Looking for help to improve your jury submissions?
•  See how your images look enlarged and projected on a screen. 
•  Are you testing the waters with a new body of work?  This is a great way to get some feedback. 

Here’s how it works:

• The Mock Jury will take place on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at Grey Eagle Distributors - 2340 Millpark Drive, Maryland Heights, MO 63043.
• We will begin promptly at 9am.
• Jurors will speak openly about submitted artist images.
• Everyone is welcome to join us in person to experience the mock jury. 

For more details: Laura Miller, lmiller@saintlouisartfair.com, phone: 314.863.0278

2. February 10 & 11, Columbus, OH

The Columbus Arts Festival jury will choose the Festival artists at a two-day public meeting in February at the Westin Columbus located at 310 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215. Jury panelists will review more than 1,000 artist applications from across the country to determine the approximately 300 who will be invited to participate in the 2018 Columbus Arts Festival.

Artists will be chosen in the following categories:  2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Ceramics, Digital Art, Drawing & Pastels, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Leather, Metal, Painting, Photography, Printmaking & Graphics, Sculpture, Wood, and Emerging Artists. A jury panel selected by the GCAC staff conducts a blind jury process, where jurors review the artists’ images and technical statements without seeing any personal information. The top scores, allowing for a balanced show across mediums, are invited to participate in the Festival.

2018 Columbus Arts Festival Jurors

April Sunami (Painting); Eva Kwong (Ceramics); Tyler Cann (Associate Curator, Columbus Museum of Art); David Butler (Painting); Sherrie Hawk (Gallery Owner)

2018 Columbus Arts Festival Jury

Westin Columbus located at 310 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215
February 10-11, 2018 8:30a-5pm

Feel free to Contact Festival Director Sean Kessler at 614-221-8625 with any questions.

June 15 & 16

• large spacious booths; booth sitters
• B&B program where local community members open their homes for complimentary lodging to interested artists
• artist hospitality room; complimentary artists' buffet on Friday evening and even a complimentary sack lunch for the road when the show is over. 
• In addition, there are five $500 Awards of Excellence, a $250 People's Choice Award; and a $750 Founders Award. 

May 11-13
Saint Louis, Missouri
Laumeier Sculpture Park
150 Artists
Deadline: January 16

Application fee $55; Booth Fee: $350-$600

June 8, 9 & 10
Columbus, Ohio
produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council
300 Artists

Application fee: $40; Booth fee: $595 

• Artists hospitality area with beverages and snacks
• Contact information and booth number in Guidebook
• Text based information system provided by our radio partner CD 102.5
• Name and image listed on website with live link to artist website
• 24 hour site security provided by Columbus PD
• Free parking space with each booth

June 16 & 17
Wheaton, Illinois
Art in Bloom, Cantigny Fine Art Festival
Deadline: January 1
Learn more: www.emevents.com
Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=6096

Sitting around waiting for the shows to start? I know, not really, but how about spending some time on your "artist's retirement plan", aka your website and email lists?

1. Buy a better domain name for your site that isn't just your name. Something that will make it easier for buyers and search engines to find. Not alexandrajohnson.com but maybe handblownglass.com, or Iowalandscapes.com, fibertowear.com, handmadepotstolove.com.
   
   Do a search for an available one at GoDaddy.com. They have wonderful tools to help you decide what your URL should be. Use a word that describes your art/craft, that identifies what you do that makes your work special and see what you can find.
   
   
2. Update your show schedule now and continue throughout the year. Make it easy for yourself so each time you are accepted to a show you go in and add the show. While you're there link to the show's website and let the show know you did so they link back to you.
   
   
3. Get serious about collecting emails. Add an email sign up box so you can build that list while you are sleeping. See this sign up box on all of my websites, upper right hand corner. It brings new subscribers daily. No work for me and it has led to nearly 60,000 subscribers. Granted, I've been gathering them for over 10 years.
   
   
4. Instead of the "contact me" form on your site, add a link to "contact me" so they can contact you NOW that sends you an email. Don't let the prospect lose interest. Its the Internet, they want to reach you while they are thinking about it. Don't make them call you. They want the ease of email.
   
   
5. Make sure that Contact Me is highly visible on your website, upper right hand corner.
   
6. Change the copyright date at on your site or remove it permanently. Don't let it say 2013 ... 
   
   
7. Update your headshot. I know you've got a smiling photo of yourself on the home page. People buy from us not only because the work is wonderful but because you are wonderful.
   
   
8. Add images of your new work.
   
   
9. Update your "About Me".
   
   
10. Check out some other artists websites for inspiration if you get stuck.

From www.flourish.com

10x10 canopy

Four walls

Three mesh screen walls

Awnings

Staybar

Door

Used but in good shape

$1200

pickup only - California

PayPal

May 19
Marion, Iowa (Adjacent to Cedar Rapids) 
Presented By: Marion Arts Festival
50 Artists
Deadline: January 9

Greetings from the 26th annual Marion Arts Festival, in Marion, Iowa! (Adjacent to Cedar Rapids, in East Central Iowa). Among Art Fair SourceBook's Top 25 events in the nation for 2017! (#18 fine craft! #20 fine art!) An AFSB "Elite 100" show eight years running! Among ArtFairCalendar.com's Top 50 "America's Best Art Fairs" and Top 6 "America's Smaller Art Fairs" 2015/2014/2013!

The Marion Arts Festival presents 50 nationally sourced artists, offering both fine art and fine craft to an audience of 10,000. Marion is a "vintage uptown" type community, and a part of the Cedar Rapids metro area.

• Our show is regional, one-day, intimate and purposeful, with the mission to be an event through which you will thrive. 
• (Here, we're obligated to insert that we're volunteer-driven, admittedly hokey and maybe a more than a little mom-and-pop). 
• There are no bands, there is no beer...our festival is about the art (we do, however, cop to falafel). 
• Our exhibitors enjoy a sincere welcome and an easy-to-do show.

"Fantastically run, major fine artists, wonderful extra art related events. No music. No beer. It's awesome."

"This is a gem of a show in an unlikely place. The show works hard to make this a worthy arts festival and ensures that each artist is "one-of-a-kind" within the fifty-artist event. The show generated record sales for me, and my one-day sales here topped my previous single-day sales record by a very wide margin. All in all, this is an easy and profitable show to do."

"My best show of the year! A niche market that never disappoints."

Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=5970

More Information: www.marionartsfestival.com

Contact:  Deb Bailey,  mafdirector@marioncc.org  (319) 377-6316

 

Not sure where you are, but I'm visiting my sons and their families in the LA area. Not sure what you do on a vacation, but what to my wondering eye should appear but white tents on the horizon! Faster than blazes we approached and I spied a name of an AFI member I'd never met, leatherworker Joann Page! and it is her birthday! Happy birthday to Joann and we both send happy holiday wishes and to all of our friends in Art Fair Land. (We're both nearly 40 year veterans of this business so we know a lot of you.)

Your turn ... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find more fine art fairs for your 2018 season: www.CallsforArtists.com

Well, did my final show of the year, number 29, in my old hometown.  It is always nice to be able to sleep in my own bed when doing a show.

Problem is, the show sucked. I made more money selling out of my driveway then paying Paragon $400 for a booth fee and not doing very well.

It is not Paragon’s fault. Bill Kinney does a super job producing the show.  He gets the message out on billboards, print media and social media.  Setup is very mellow, and for the most part, teardown is mellow.

I think part of the problem is that the show comes too late, a week before Christmas weekend.  Most serious shopping has already been done.  It may be he cannot get the park any earlier in the month.  It is a City-owned Park, and you know how that goes when trying to do anything with a municipality.

It is a small show in a very lovely location. We set up in South Straub Park, right next to the Yacht Club, also we are on the waterfront, trendy restaurants surround us.  Tons of people are walking their trendy dogs (of course you know how many of them ever buy anything).

The crowd that comes is monied and well dressed. They have disposable income, but unfortunately, most choose not use it with us.

I barely sold $1200 in two days.  Many, did not make booth and travel expenses.

Most sales are in the Lowend price range. But once in a while I would see a big ticket item go by.  Trouble was, they were not that many.

The dilemma for most of us is that it is December and most people do not buy a lot of art for Christmas presents.

Secondly, in the Florida fall, most shows suck, if you gross $1500-$2000 you are lucky. The only really good one is the Pensacola one.  Of course everybody knows about it, so getting in is not easy.

Then there is one great Cruel Irony.

When you are facing one of the most lowest grossing months, This when most shows want their booth fees for the spring shows.

Yep, maybe you were lucky and got in Artisphere, or Downtown Fort Worth, or Winter Park,but they all want their booth fees now.  And, these fees are not cheap.

This is one very cruel irony of our business.

OK, I will get off my soapbox. (Chill,Nels).

Which is why we will pay a high booth fee for a show that delivers mediocre returns.  I have done this show three years in a row, and never once broken $2000 in sales.  Mainsail, the late spring show in St. Petersburg, always brings me $5000-plus in sales every time.  I am in the 2018 show, so is Ellen.

The best I can tell you is this show is a gamble.

I think Bill Kinney, Mr. Paragon, is a savvy promoter.  But this show is on a tightrope. I personally do not think it is worth a $400 booth fee.

Oh, I gotta cut this short.  Santa is arriving across the street from our Ybor house tomorrow. Three thousand are expected to attend.

The driveway beckons.

June 16 & 17

FESTIVAL FACTS:

• Deadline: February 1
• Jury Fee: $ 25
• Booth Fee: $300
• Artists: approximately 90
• Reproductions Allowed
• Ribbon Awards: $1100.00
• Attendance: 10,000+  
• Ranked #96 in Sunshine Artists 200 Best 2016

To learn more and apply: www.emevents.com

For additional information please contact:  

Erin Melloy, 630.536.8416, emelloy@emevents.com